Blogging by Brian Williams

I hadn't been overly impressed with Brian Williams as he took his place in Tom Brokaw's chair behind the NBC anchor desk. He seemed like a bit of a lightweight, but it didn't really matter because network news is dwindling in influence (among its audience as well as within the networks) anyway, so I'm not sure it's as important a job as it once had been.

In view of that, I've been pleasantly surprised by the blog entries he's been posting on the NBC Nightly News blog. It's a group blog on which a number of on-the-air and behind-the-scenes people post, but Williams seems to be bringing more interest and what looks a lot like passion to it than I would have expected. Last week he wrote about restrictions FEMA was trying to place on reporters covering the recovery of the dead--that post, I believe, brought enough light and attention to the matter that FEMA had to start backing off (CNN's securement of a restraining order against FEMA put an actual end to the matter). Today he pointed out an unexpected aspect of the President's visit to New Orleans last night for his speech:

I am duty-bound to report the talk of the New Orleans warehouse district last night: there was rejoicing (well, there would have been without the curfew, but the few people I saw on the streets were excited) when the power came back on for blocks on end. Kevin Tibbles was positively jubilant on the live update edition of Nightly News that we fed to the West Coast. The mini-mart, long ago cleaned out by looters, was nonetheless bathed in light, including the empty, roped-off gas pumps. The motorcade route through the district was partially lit no more than 30 minutes before POTUS drove through. And yet last night, no more than an hour after the President departed, the lights went out. The entire area was plunged into total darkness again, to audible groans. It's enough to make some of the folks here who witnessed it... jump to certain conclusions.

He goes on to talk about the overwhelming military occupation of the city. He also went into that a little bit in a post from yesterday:

This is very rapidly becoming the most credential-ed region of the United States. Roadblocks are prevalent but scattershot... rules of the road change, it seems, by day. Depending on the jurisdiction posted at the roadblock you happen to approach... the assumption often is that you're with al-Qaida. The reception can be very brusque, and many roads remain shut to normal everyday vehicular traffic.

I've got to admit that his blog is winning me over. I'll pay more attention to him and his newscast.